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Brand Strategy · Integrated Brand Activation · Interim Marketing Leadership

Build the brand. Move the business.

Senior marketing consultant and interim marketing leader for brands navigating growth, change, or a critical leadership gap. I connect strategy, teams, and execution so important work keeps moving.

Discuss an engagement View experience

18+ years · Executive MBA · Greater Philadelphia · Serving clients nationally · Remote-first + available to travel

Monica Cushner, founder and principal of Cushner Consulting

The business challenge

The role is open. The team can’t absorb the gap.

A leadership gap does not pause launches, decisions, agency direction, or the team. Work keeps moving, but without clear ownership, priorities drift and senior leaders absorb the day-to-day.

That’s where I come in.

I step into a senior marketing role, steady the team, and keep critical work moving while the permanent structure catches up.

No. 1

Interim leadership is the most-requested high-end independent talent project.

33%

year-over-year growth in requests for interim marketing and sales leaders.

Source: Heidrick & Struggles 2026 Independent Talent Report ↗

Selected experience

Experience across industries. Every side of the table.

Select an industry to see relevant brand experience.

SchickXfinityBurlingtonDunkin’AudiPfizerFELIWAYWaldorf Astoria

Ways to work together

What needs to
happen next?

Senior strategy and hands-on leadership, shaped to what your organization needs now.

01Interim Marketing Leadership

Step into a critical seat, steady the team, lead partners, and keep priority work moving.

02Integrated Brand Activation

Turn brand priorities and scattered initiatives into one activation plan across media, digital, commerce, social, creators, and PR.

03Social & Creator Capability

Build the operating model, partnerships, and internal confidence to compete in social and creator marketing.

04Brand Strategy & Positioning

Clarify what the brand stands for, why it matters, and how it shows up in the world.

05Brand & Digital Experience Strategy

Define the brand, content, search, and AI-discovery strategy, then bring in the right specialist partner to build it.

Interim marketing leadership

Leadership when the business cannot wait.

Engagement formats: Full-time temporary or interim assignments · Fractional leadership · Defined consulting projects

Typical interim scope: 3–12 months · Director and senior marketing leadership assignments · Direct or through an approved staffing partner

Bring me in for: Leave coverage · Executive search gaps · Business transitions · Critical initiatives

Discuss an interim need

Selected outcomes

The work speaks.

Strategy matters when it earns attention and moves the business.

A scene from Xfinity’s The Neighborhood Halloween filmComcast · Xfinity5M viewsThe Neighborhood

Webby-winning branded entertainment.

See the story ↗Skintimate product lineup featuring the 2-in-1 Shave Oil and MoisturizerEdgewell · Skintimate250M earned impressionsShave Oils launch

Integrated brand, social, creator, and PR activation.

See the story ↗

Xfinity · Minivations

A social idea that became a broader brand platform.

Social listening surfaced a fan behavior that sparked the idea. Led the brief, leadership sell-in, and cross-functional activation that turned it into a content series and broader brand platform.

6M+ video views220% above share-rate benchmarkOMMA winner
See the award-winning work ↗
Schick Intuition collaboration with artist Reyna Noriega

Schick Intuition · Reyna Noriega · Target

A cultural collaboration built for retail.

Led brand activation for a two-year collaboration connecting artist, product, retail, and press.

PEOPLE exclusive ↗Monica’s role ↗

Meet Monica

A builder at heart. A leader in the room.

For 18+ years, I’ve built brands, teams, and marketing capabilities inside complex organizations.

I see the whole system, make the hard decisions, and get the work into market.

I’m a hands-on people manager and team leader, not an advisor who stops at the recommendation.

Perspective from every side of the table

AgencyIdeas into marketClientGo-to-market strategy + team leadershipConsultantBusiness problems + interim leadershipIndustry voiceThought leadership + industry perspective
18+Years across agency and in-house roles12+Years developing people and teamsMBAGeneral Management and Leadership
Monica Cushner in Costa Rica
Beyond the bioCurious about the world.

I love traveling and experiencing new cultures.

Beyond the bioWisconsin Badgers women’s soccer

Recruited as a freshman and competed as a Division I outside midfielder. I still work the same way: play to win, trust the team, keep moving.

Beyond the bioBrands live in real life.

As a marketer and mom of two young boys, I see firsthand how trust, relevance, and simplicity shape what families choose and what earns a place in their homes.

Recognition & press

Work that gets noticed.

Awards, industry stages, and work that traveled beyond the brief.

Monica Cushner speaking at a Brand Innovators eventIn the room · Brand Innovators
RecognitionTop 50 Women Leaders of PhiladelphiaWomen We Admire · 2025Campaign awardsAward-winning work for XfinityThe Neighborhood · Webby winnerSpeakingBrand InnovatorsCreators, content & cultureBrand recognitionTIME World’s Best BrandsSchick · 2024Beauty awardsAllure Best of BeautySkintimate 2-in-1 Shave Oil + Moisturizer · 2025 | Schick Hydro Silk · 2022–2025
LeadershipEdgewell Manager AcademyLeadership
RecognitionBurlington SVP AwardBuilding the Brand

Field notes

Perspective built in the work.

What I’ve learned while leading teams, building integrated work, and getting complicated ideas into market.

View all insights
Brand & Marketing · 5 min readOrganic vs. paid social: Why good content still needs a media budgetBrand & Marketing · 6 min readThe PR win that belongs on the packageBrand & Marketing · 7 min readInfluencer, creator, UGC, social commerce: What are you actually buying?Business & Leadership · 9 min readConsultant, contractor, freelancer: where do fractional and interim fit?Business & Leadership · 5 min readWhen the business cannot wait for the permanent hireBrand & Marketing · 6 min readBrand activation, integrated marketing, multichannel marketing, and omnichannel marketing: What’s the difference?Brand & Marketing · 6 min readHow social listening can spark a bigger brand ideaBrand & Marketing · 8 min readMarketing collaborations and partnerships: What earns attention?

Available for select engagements · Remote-first · Available to travel

Bring me the business problem.

If a leadership seat is open, a launch is at risk, or a brand needs sharper direction, share the need and timing. I’ll respond personally.

Discuss an engagement